Beersheba mayor calls for decisive end to ‘war of attrition’ with Gaza

Chief of Staff Benny Gantz convening special meeting on rocket barrage in south

Inspectors at the site of a rocket strike in Beersheba last year. (photo credit: Dudu Grunshpan/Flash90)

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Ilan Ben Zion
Ilan Ben Zion is a news editor at The Times of Israel. He holds a Masters degree in Diplomacy from
… [More]Tel Aviv University and an Honors Bachelors degree from the University of Toronto in Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, Jewish Studies, and English. [Less]

The mayor of Beersheba on Sunday called on the government to put an end to the “war of attrition” between Israel and Palestinian terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip.

Mayor Rubik Danilovich will meet on Monday with community leaders from other southern Israeli towns in advance of a meeting on Tuesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he is expected to entreat him to act decisively to safeguard southern residents.

Over 100 rockets and mortars were fired at southern Israel from the Gaza Strip by Palestinian terrorist groups on Saturday and Sunday in the latest round of cross-border violence, which began on Saturday after an anti-tank missile struck an IDF jeep, wounding four soldiers.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz was convening an emergency situation assessment meeting with senior General Staff officers on Sunday evening in light of the escalation of violence.

Earlier on Sunday, Netanyahu responded to the ongoing rocket fire, wishing wounded Israeli soldiers and civilians a speedy recovery and saying that the army would not abide continued attacks from the Gaza Strip.

“The IDF is operating, and will operate, forcefully against the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, which are sustaining heavy blows from the IDF,” the prime minister said. “The world needs to understand that Israel will not sit idly by in the face of attempts to attack us. We are prepared to intensify the response.”

Earlier, government ministers threatened an intensified response to attacks from the Gaza Strip, after a weekend that included rocket fire and IAF counter-strikes.